Clock Mechanism

Abstract

A clock mechanism in which the hour, minute and second hands are replaced by rotating differently-colored circles. Three transparent discs, each having a differently-colored circular filter at a circumferential position thereof, are rotated within the mechanism at the respective speeds of hour, minute and second hands. A light source within the mechanism projects light through the discs against the housing. The face of the clock is thus illuminated with "white" light except in three differently-colored circular areas which rotate around the circumference of the clock face. The positions of the three circular areas represent the time of day and as a result of continuously changing overlapping of filters, a dramatically shifting color pattern is expected.

Description

This invention relates to clock mechanisms, and more particularly to clock mechanisms which exhibit interacting color patterns.

Many prior art clocks and watches have been designed whose faces produce unusual and interesting optical effects as the hands rotate. The present invention is of this type.

It is an object of my invention to provide a clock mechanism whose face exhibits dynamically changing color patterns which in addition to representing the time of day also produce aesthetically pleasing shifting colors.

In accordance with the principles of my invention, I provide three congruent light-transmitting discs on the face of the clock. In one embodiment of the invention, each of the discs is clear except in a relatively small circular area near the circumference. The circular area is colored (e.g., red, yellow or blue) differently on each disc. The three discs are caused to rotate respectively at the conventional speeds of minute, hour and second hands of a clock and a light source is placed within the clock in back of the three transparent discs. The face of the clock is thus illuminated with "white" light except in three differently-colored circular areas which rotate around the circumference of the clock face. The positions of the three circular areas represent the time of day. Moreover, as the circular areas pass over each other, additional colors are produced by intersecting circular areas. For example, in the case of red, yellow and blue colors, when the yellow and blue circular areas partly overlap each other, the common area appears to be green. Similarly, an overlap of the red and yellow circular areas results in an orange color, and an overlap of the blue and red circular areas results in a purple color. (A three-way overlap results in a black appearance.) In another embodiment of the invention, the three discs are made of respective colored light-transmitting material, with circular holes being provided for representing the hands. In such a case, the overall clock face appears to be black, with different colored circles rotating around the circumference of the face.

It is a feature of my invention to provide three congruent light-transmitting discs which rotate at respective speeds of the minute, hour and seconds hands of a clock, each disc having an identifiable area thereon serving as one of the hands of the clock, with a light source being provided in back of the three discs for transmitting light through the discs to thereby cause the colors of the "hands" to vary as they move over each other.

Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a clock mechanism constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 depict the face of the clock as it represents three different times of day;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken through the line 5--5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken through the line 6--6 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 depicts three discs which may be used in another embodiment of the invention.

Clock 10 of FIG. 1 includes a truncated cylindrical housing 14, having a slot 16 therein to allow internally generated heat to escape, a cover face 12 and a base 20. The base includes projections 20a around the periphery thereof for bearing against a supporting surface. The projections also provide sufficient clearance to allow line cord 22 to extend through a hole in the base, the line cord, when inserted into a wall socket, extending power to the unit to drive the clock motor. A screw head 18 is also shown in FIG. 1, the screw serving, as will be described below, to secure the internal mechanism to housing 14.

FIG. 2 depicts the appearance of the clock face when the "hands" of the clock represent 12:30:00. Face plate 12 consists of an outer circular section 12a with a plurality of circular indentations 12b therein. The indentations may correspond to the conventional hour markings on a clock, although they may be merely decorative. The inner circular area 12c of the clock face is made of clear plastic so that light can be transmitted through it from inside the clock to an observer looking at the clock face. The area 12c is illuminated with "white" light except in those areas depicted by the circles 24, 26 and 28.

The three circles correspond to the three hands of a conventional clock. Circle 24 (red) is the hour hand, circle 26 (blue) is the minute hand and circle 28 (yellow) is the second hand. The three circles have different diameters to heighten the color effects described herein, although the diameters may also be equal. In the positions shown in FIG. 2, circle 26 is the only one of the three which is of a single color (blue). Although circle 24 is red and circle 28 is yellow, the area 28a which is overlapped by the two circles appears orange (the result of transmitting ordinary light through both red and yellow filters).

FIG. 3 depicts the clock hands thirty seconds later, after the second hand has moved from the top of the clock face to the bottom of the clock face. At this time all of circle 24 is red, all of circle 28 is green (the result of transmitting ordinary light through yellow and blue filters), and that part of circle 26 which is not overlapped by circle 28 is blue.

As a still further example, FIG. 4 shows the appearance of the clock face at a time of day corresponding to 3:03:43. The only area of overlap here is at 24a, which apperas purple (the result of transmitting ordinary light through red and blue filters). In general, as the clock "hands" rotate, there is a continuously changing, aesthetically pleasing color pattern. Since the second hand (circle 28) moves quite rapidly, a yellow circle appears to go around the entire clock face once every minute, part or all of the second-hand circle changing color as it passes under the minute-hand and hour-hand circles.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional clock mechanism 30 and gear assembly 70 which are secured to truncated cylindrical support 76. The clock mechanism drives three co-axial shafts 32, 34, 36 in a conventional manner. Shaft 32 drives the minute "hand," shaft 34 drives the hour "hand" and shaft 36 drives the second "hand." Each shaft is attached to a respective one of transparent cylinders 40, 42, 44, the three cylinders being nested within each other and rotating at the respective speeds of the clock "hands." At the top of cylinder 44 there is mounted a plastic disc 56 which is clear throughout except for a circular region 28 which is yellow in color and functions as a yellow filter. Directly underneath disc 56 there is mounted a frosted plate 46 which serves to diffuse light transmitted from bulbs 58 through the transparent cylinders 40, 42, 44. This causes the clock face to be illuminated uniformly. At the top of cylinder 42 there is mounted another clear plastic disc 54; however, this clear plastic disc includes a red circular filter 24. Similarly, at the top of cylinder 44 there is mounted still a third transparent disc 52 with a blue circular filter 26. It is apparent that the light from bulbs 58 is transmitted through forsted plate 46 and the transparent cylinders and the transparent discs to illuminate the face of the clock with "white" light. However, the projection on the face of the clock through the filters results in blue, red or yellow circles, which move as the cylinders rotate, with the colors changing as the filters pass over one another.

A supporting plate 74 is mounted on cylindrical support 76, and three bulb-containing sockets are secured to the top of the base. The three sockets are connected in series and wires 64a, 64b from the sockets are connected by connectors 68 to the wires 62a, 62b in the line cord. The motor wires 66a, 66b are similarly connected to the wires in the line cord by connectors 68. Support 76 has a hole 76a through which the line cord passes, as base 20 contains a hole 20c for the same purpose.

Manual control knob 72, to which access can be gained through a hole 20b in the base, serves to adjust the hands in a conventional manner by turning the gears within gear assembly 70.

Housing 76 is secured within housing 14 by means of screw 18 and wing nut 78, as shown most clearly in FIG. 6. A spacer 80 is mounted between the two housings, the shaft of the screw extending through the two housings and the spacer.

FIG. 7 depicts three alternative discs 90, 92, 94 which can be used instead of discs 52, 54, 56. In the embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 7, the discs are colored except for respective cut-outs through which light can be transmitted without any filtering effect. If the discs of FIG. 7 are used, for the most part the face of the clock will appear to be black since most of the face of the clock is illuminated by light transmitted through all three filters. Colored (non-black) circles appear on the face of the clock directly above any cut-out or combinations of overlapping cut-outs.

Although the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made therein and other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A clock mechanism comprising a housing having a clock face, a motor having three shafts for rotating respectively at the speeds of hour, minute and second hands, means for mounting said motor within said housing, three differently colored filter, connecting means connecting said filter means respectively to said three shafts for rotating the filter means respectively at minute, hour and second speeds, each of said differently-colored filter means representing a hand of a clock, said connecting means spacing said filter means axially from said shafts so that said filter means appear to be floating and lighting means mounted within said housing for transmitting light through said three differently colored filter means to effect a dynamic interaction of colors and an indication relative to said clock face of the time of day, said filter means having respective spots positioned to orbit along aligned paths of at least substantially equal diameters.

2. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of said filter means and an associated one of said connecting means constitutes a respective cylindrical means secured at one end to a respective one of said shafts, said three cylindrical means being nested within each other and serving to allow the transmission therethrough of light from said lighting means.

3. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 2 wherein each of said filter means includes a disc of clear, light-transmitting material with the spot thereof being constituted by a respectively colored light-transmitting filter.

4. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 3 wherein each of said spot is circular in shape.

5. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 2 wherein each of said filter means is a disc of respectively colored light-transmitting filter material with the spot thereof being a cut-out.

6. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 5 wherein each of said cut-outs is circular in shape.

7. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 2 wherein said housing is a truncated cylinder supporting said filter means in parallel and at an angle to the horizontal.

8. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of said filter means is a disc.

9. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 1 wherein the filter means corresponding to the second speed is located between the filter means corresponding to the hour and minute speeds and said shafts.

10. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 1 wherein said connecting means comprises a frosted plate between the lighting means and filter means to diffuse said light.